WRITTEN BY: Logan Barker
On a Late Saturday evening, Mingo Central took the field against Shady Spring. Christian Joplin also took the field for the first time since the game against Chapmanville where he received a red card. Joplin was a huge part of the Miners’ defense before his absence, but now the Miners are finally at full strength and they showed a lot of improvement with Joplin’s long awaited return.
The first half was really close as the first 21 minutes went scoreless. It wasn’t until with 19 minutes remaining in the half when Shady scored the first goal of the night. Shady was able to get one more in the net during the final minutes of the half to make the score 2-0 at the intermission. This half was most definitely a defensive game, both defenses played well and were making plays. That would show a lot in the second half as well. The whole game was a good defensive outing for both teams.
After a 10 minute break, both teams came out of the locker room and the second half had started. Shady came out strong and scored in the opening minutes of the half. The Miners matched that with a goal of their own a few minutes later by Kendan Trent who had 3 shots on goal, Blake Stacy had 3 shots on goal, Bell Hall had a shot on goal, Brody Dotson had a shot on goal and Joplin had 2 shots. The game stayed at 3-1 until about 8 minutes left when Shady put up one more goal. The game then ended with a 4-1 Shady Spring victory.
The defense played very well, Brody Dotson and Jacob Blankenship did a good job at keeping things out of the middle during the second half and Tyler Coleman, Sheridan Hatfield, Joplin and Draven Donahoe played very well at midfield, keeping the ball from getting towards the goal. The whole defense played well together and it had seemed like everyone was really in sync. Mingo Central now falls down to 2-3 while Shady Spring now advances to 5-2.
Mason Hatfield played well in defeat for the Miners. Hatfield had 28 saves on goal and was a force to be reckoned with at goal keeper. Even in a loss, that was an encouraging effort by Hatfield for the Miners.
